TEMECULA 
Ashley Normandie had a rallying cry for her Great Oak High girls water polo teammates before their playoff game Tuesday.

“Ladies, let’s go out there and make this not my last game,” said Normandie, one of only two seniors on the Wolfpack’s 17-player roster.

The young Wolfpack responded to Normandie’s request, as they rolled to a 17-6 win over Long Beach Millikan in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs.

Freshman Tara Prentice and sophomore Abby Buxbaum each scored four goals to lead a Wolfpack attack that overwhelmed the Rams (8-20) with up-tempo passing in transition.

Prentice displayed a howitzer of a shot, scoring two of her goals from the mid-pool area.

“I try to catch the goalie when she’s not looking, because sometimes they don’t expect that shot,” said Prentice, who played a well-rounded game with five assists and four steals. “Why the heck would I shoot from the other side? Just taking chances, I think.”

After allowing two early goals, Great Oak’s defense settled down to suffocate Millikan, allowing just one goal during the rest of the first half.

Sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Lawyer, another one of Great Oak’s impressive underclassmen, had nine saves to assist in the stingy defensive effort.

After thwarting Millikan’s advances, the Wolfpack utilized aggressive vertical passing that was akin to a quarterback throwing a deep bomb in football.

“We have a couple girls with big arms (Prentice and Angela Rice), and when they don’t press us on the outside, we take advantage of that,” Great Oak coach Bill Barham said. “That’s by design. Those are not rogue plays. Those are things that we work on in practice.”

Despite the Wolfpack’s relative inexperience, this is a landmark team in program history. Great Oak (19-7) posted its best regular-season record ever this season, and Tuesday’s victory was the first time the program won a postseason game beyond the wild-card round.

In addition to Prentice and Buxbaum, sophomore driver Reagan Castillo (two goals, two assists) is another high-volume offensive threat with two years remaining.

“That’s what’s so promising about this team,” Barham said. “I’ve got them for another two or three years in some cases. I can’t ask for anything more from a young team to build upon. We already exceeded our goals for this year.”

The Wolfpack will visit Agoura, ranked No. 5 in the latest Division II poll, in the second round today.

And the callow Wolfpack don’t seem fazed by the challenge.

“I just like to go in thinking positive with my team,” Buxbaum said. “It’s always fun getting on a bus and traveling with the team. We don’t really worry too much about the game. We just try to make the best out of it.”